xfactorfandomcom-20200214-history
The X Factor UK (Series 2)
Series 2 of The X Factor premiered on August 20, 2005 and ended on December 17, 2005 on ITV. It was won by 21-year old pop/RnB singer Shayne Ward who was mentored by Louis Walsh in the 16-24s category. As of 2017, it remains Walsh's only win as a mentor. This series was watched by an average of 8.73 million viewers - an increase of 1.2 million viewers from the previous year. Production Kate Thornton returned as presenter of the main show on ITV and Ben Shephard presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, while Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh returned as judges. The second series was longer than the first, with seven acts in each of the three categories going to the judges' homes, and twelve acts in the finals instead of nine. Judges Twists/Changes Live Shows: 'In a change to the previous series, the number of finalists were increased to 12 with the shows taking place over 10 weeks. This was the first series to feature three acts in the final. Finalists Selection process Auditions ''See: List of The X Factor UK auditionees (series 2) Notable returnees included eventual finalists Chenai Zinyuku and Maria Lawson who both auditioned for the first series and were eliminated at bootcamp. It was also during the audition stages for this series that viewers were first introduced to Mollie King, who was criticized by Sharon Osbourne for her outfit. Today, she is best known in the UK as part of English/Irish girl group The Saturdays. During the show, viewers were first introduced to Alexandra Burke, who would reach Judges' Houses before being sent home. She returned three years later and won the show. Bootcamp See: Bootcamp (UK series 2) Judges' Houses See: Judges' Houses (UK series 2) Live Shows Results Summary Ratings Controversies '''Elimination of Maria Lawson and "Irish Mafia" After the final showdown in week 5, controversy was created around the judges' voting process when Walsh cast the deciding vote to keep The Conway Sisters, who are Irish, in the show at the expense of Maria Lawson. Osbourne later claimed that Lawson was the victim of the "Irish Mafia" after Walsh chose to keep The Conway Sisters in. When the voting statistics were revealed at the end of the series, Lawson was revealed to have received twice as many public votes as The Conway Sisters. The controversy heightened when it was revealed that Walsh had also worked with The Conway Sisters personally prior to them auditioning for The X Factor. Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark resulted in an investigation by media regulator Ofcom over Osbourne's "Irish Mafia" remark, however on 9 January 2006, Ofcom cleared Osbourne of any wrongdoing. Louis Walsh Rumours later circulated that Walsh had quit the show after being humiliated and "bullied" by Osbourne and Cowell. In addition to the media outrage at his choice to eliminate Lawson, there were verbal assaults. Furthermore, on 19 November, during the sixth live show of the series, Osbourne threw water over Walsh live on air after he asked her, "Are you on drugs? Are you taking Ozzy's drugs?" at the start of her (positive) critique of Journey South's performance of Robbie Williams' 1997 hit single "Angels". On 23 November, Walsh told The Sun: "I've been totally humiliated and undermined by both of them. This has caused me nothing but stress. The final straw was Sharon with the water and being booed by the audience and then Cowell saying I was an idiot and stupid... I've had enough. I'm going back to Dublin. I'm not putting up with it any more." Cowell apparently "begged" Walsh to come back and, in the event, Walsh did turn up for the next show; it was stated that he had indeed quit midweek but had been persuaded to return. He explained how he had felt he could not take the pressure any more, and denied that the episode was a publicity stunt. Trivia * As of 2017, this is the only series where Louis Walsh has been the winning mentor. * This was the first year to have 12 acts in the Live Shows * This was the first year that some of the acts went aboard for the Judges Houses stage. The previous series, acts performed in front of their mentor in their own homes in the UK. * This was the last year to have free song choice selections throughout the live shows. The following year onwards, each live show would have a theme. Category:Series Category:The X Factor UK Category:The X Factor UK (Series 2)